johnh

I just finished putting one together: I haven't done a lot of testing yet but it seems to work.

Could we get a little more info? You say you've "tried to open the sdcc DOS looking file but it doesn't stay open." If you mean you tried to run sdcc.exe then that's the expected result. sdcc.exe is a command line application and you need to tell it what you want to do with command line parameters or it justs prints some helpful (?) information and exits. You also say you've "tried to use MPLAB to build the new code I've got from the forums but I get source errors. " What code did you download? What errors did you get? We need more info to be of any help.

Popular Mechanics in the December, 1982 issue had plans for a calliope that was blown via hair dryers. The article is available here: http://books.google.com/books?id=-9kDAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:popular+intitle:mechanics&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=11&as_miny_is=1982&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=1982&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES Scroll down to page 102

I own two calliopes, what do you want to know? Here's a link to the 'pretty' one: http://haskey.com/johnh/calliope The other was built by 'Cozatt'. You'll see a reference to him at the MMD site. I have the a copy of the plans from http://www.calliopeplans.com and also the Brill plans that show up on eBay from time to time. A friend of mine has an original Tangley that he had to make all the whistles for (it was a basket case when he got it.)

Heh.

The carillon I spoke of is using one of my friends' MIDI driver boards connected to a set of small relays that actually switch the carillon strikers. I seem to recall that the voltages were higher and that was the reason for the relay board. In any event, it's been done so you should have no real problems achieving the same. Please keep us updated with your project and especially the scanning of the rolls, I'm sure the other carillon owner would be interested in what you have and maybe vice-versa. If I can be of any more help, let me know!

Well, the family is from Milwaukee but I'm on the left coast now... The board is stand-alone and takes MIDI input. I've sent an email asking for technical details on the interface. I'll report back when I know more. Pipe organ magnets are usually rated in ohms and anywhere from 40 - 120 ohms is typical at 12-15 volts DC. Many people are driving pipe ranks with ULN2803's without problems. What voltage do the carillon strikers run on?

Hey Zap! Where are you located? A friend has built a PIC based driver board that already has the capability built in to 'unify' a set of pipes/chimes/whatever. In organ terms, the board will play a set of outputs at 16, 8, 4, 2 2/3, and 2. Another friend has a Schulmerich Carillon (smaller model than yours) with MIDI interface. I can get more details from him if needed. Check out the rollscanning information at http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/rebirth.htm. There's a lot of 'prior art' out there to help with your project.

Don't work too hard, heck, I bought you a Beer! ;)

Can't seem to reach it from here in California. Anyone else?

Hi, I've written a fair amount of MIDI software that runs on both Unix and Wiindows (console). I used a rather ugly bit of code found on the 'net consisting of two files, midifile.c and midifile.h. I'm sure there are many better examples out there! If you can't find anything I can try to dig up the copy I started with... I'd be interested in your player app.... ---john.

I almost said 'functionally' equivalent but to me that implied that the electrical characteristics were the same. I used 'logically' equivalent to mean that they work the same way. English is a horrible language! :P

These chips should be logically equivalent. Pins 7 and 9 are serial outputs. ---john.

Hi Trevor, what changed exactly? From his website, SmashTV just mentions that he flipped the layout of J3-J6. Were there changes to the connections from the 'extra' 2803 pins?

Some player piano actions use PWM to control the striking force of a solenoid. You might think about that.

The upper number indicates how many beats there are in a bar. The lower number indicates the note value which represents one beat. I've never heard a name for the top/bottom numbers.

Direct striking of the drums by the solenoid. I like this approach better: This uses some sort of rotary actuator (solenoid).

Traps wouldn't be much of a problem, you may need to use something to translate from the Miditzer outputs to whatever your real traps need. I'd think a custom map in a MIDIO128 would work fine. I've not looked to see what Miditzer outputs for shades...

I've got a small pipe organ (see avatar) and on occasion I route my Miditzer 'outs' to the real pipes. Two of my ranks are extended, 73 and 85 notes, so I can even play with unification. (My 'classical' console takes unification to the extreme, deriving approx 20 stops from 2 ranks! Not something I recomend... :P The missing ranks/percussions remain fluidsynth powered.

I remember all the neat chips GI used to make including a single chip that had four different video games on a single chip (this was 25 years ago). My college roommate built his own 'game console' using them, as well as a home brew z-80 system. Nice memories!

So, what hoops do I have to jump through to use this code? Is hardware available? I'm slogging through the ATMEGA168 MIDI file player project and I'd much rather use something MB based. I've got time at the moment (between jobs in our crap economy) so could really use another MB project! :)

Are you using boards from SmashTV? Are the board versions compatible? I seem to recall that Smash has changed the layout of J8/J9. Could this possibly be the issue?

A couple of years ago my friend and I set up a MIDIBOX to translate Sysex to CC for my pipe organ project. I think the version that we're using was done in assembly since that was before the availability of the c environment. Should be even easier to code in c.

Here's the Cadillac of pneumatic player piano midification: http://www.spencerserolls.com/MidiValve.htm Here's a list of links you should review: http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/e-valves.htm At the top of that page is a link that shows another type of organ valves: http://members.shaw.ca/smythe/bode.htm Lots to study. There's no reason why a Midibox couldn't be the smarts of one of these...

Nice work! There are a few midiboxen in here as well: I use them to translate sysex messages, coupling, some stop control, etc. Real pipes + electronic.